Mercedes
Mercedes, better known as Mel, is a Golden Retriever around Weed's age and his good friend. He is not the strongest of the Ohu soldiers, but one of the best swimmers. Appearance Personality Mel is a brave and loyal young dog. Mel was originally a bit timid puppy and a crybaby. He turned bitter after he believed his mother abandoned him and was manipulated by his saviors Blue, Ned and Bell. Eventually, he realizes the importance of his mother and the way Blue treated him, giving him a change of attitude. True Mel is kind, good-hearted and polite. He becomes stronger and braver during the series. He starts to trust himself, though occasionally he is slightly doubtful when facing something very dangerous. During these moments, he thinks about his deceased mother which gives him strength. Mel is helpful and always wants to be useful to others. Still, as he is quite small and young, he sometimes seems to think that there isn't much he can do and is very glad every time he is given a chance to do something useful. Ginga Densetsu Weed Manga Mel is the son of Lenny. As a puppy, he is given away to a family to become their pet. Unfortunately, the family abandons him in the woods because of his whining and cries for his mother. Mel joins the three rogue dogs Blue, Ned and Bell to get protection from the dangers of the wild. When he meets Weed and his mother, who came back for him, Mel attacks his mother in anger. When Mel was given a chance to kill his mother, he soon realizes that he has been tricked and starts a fight with the three rogue dogs. With Weed and GB's help, they defeat Ned and then Bell, while Blue gets run over by two trucks and killed. Mel now reunites with his mother. However, his mother dies shortly after from illness and Mel is nearly taken to the dog pound. The old Ohu soldier, Smith, saves him and brings him to Weed's pack whom Mel joins. In the search for Weed’s father Gin, Mel is left behind to guard Gajou Mountain. Here he meets the Kai-Ken Kurotora and his companions Shigure, Shouji, Dodo and Buru. Soon, he finds out that the Great Dane, Genba, is approaching the fortress and together with Akame and Kurotora, he flees. On Akame’s order, Mel travels out to find Weed. As he goes through a village, he meets the Mastiff, Moss, who is an old friend of Gin's. Mel tries to take him back, but Moss leaves Mel to find even more dogs to help. Mel then returns to find Weed and tell him everything. Because of Mel’s small size, Hougen attacks him several times during the last battle. Mel is lucky to survive and stays a loyal member of Weed's pack throughout the series. Anime Mel is a Golden Retriever puppy and a slave to Blue. He was forced to steal food for Blue and his comrades, until Weed showed up with Smith and GB. Ordered to attack by Blue, he does so, and Weed resists. Doing so, Weed teaches Mel about morality and makes him realize that he no longer should be a slave, and should stand up to Blue. This results in him escaping, after Hook comes to their rescue. After Blue is killed, Mel leaves Hook to join Weed, Smith, and GB on their journey toward Ohu. Mel becomes a good friend of Weed's, and stays behind at Gajou after Akame comes with news from Gin. Even though he is still a puppy, Mel has shown courage, especially in the defense of Gajou. He is considered an ohu soldier even though he is just a pup (Weed is also a pup but he is son of leader so he was born a soldier). He has beaten enemies twice his size. WEED Gaiden (Mel's Trip) Mel appears in his own adventure story which is set after his mother's death. As he searches for food in a neighbourhood, he meets the female pet dog, Jody who offers him her food and they talk a bit. Later that day, Mel witness Jody being beaten by two dangerous fugitives. Mel tries to defend Jody and the owners but he was kicked to the drain. The fugitives leaves Jody bleeding on the road while they kidnap her family and hold them as hostages. Mel who is unhurt is then asked by Jody to find the Dalmatian, Louis, who can help them. Jody is member of the organization ”The Justice”. The organization has only dogs and helps humans in need. Together with the group, Mel helps to rescue Jody's owners. After the rescue, he says a goodbye to Louis and goes off to Ohu alone. Ginga Densetsu Weed Orion Mel appears in Orion story as a disaster victim of the volcanic eruption and earthquakes. Though he had survived the disaster, he was pinned from a big tree which fell on his body. Despite pleading with Weed to leave him behind, he was pulled out from under the tree by Weed and Kyoushiro. Sometime after the incident, it is revealed that Mel and Kyoushiro have been taken into care by a human. They have been seen visiting Weed and Koyuki and Mel has grown up. Upon hearing of the survival of the others, they both escape and go back to the mountains. Kyoshiro and Mel reunite with everyone he takes part in the final battle against Masamune. Ginga: The Last Wars Mel is present when Monsoon and his kin attack Weed, leaving his leader badly injured. Led by Monsoon, the bears carry out a full assault on the Ou army. Mel is heavily injured, as well as the remaining dogs. Monsoon roars in victory as the Ou paradise falls. Shortly after their defeat, Monsoon has built a makeshift dungeon out of rocks and boulders, similar to Gajou. Mel, though wounded, is hidden among a few boulders but the bears easily spot him. He tries to fight back but is swatted away and knocked unconscious. Monsoon orders his kin not to kill him, as it would be more fun to keep them alive and eventually eat them. Mel is taken to the dungeon where all of the other Ou soldiers are, both dead and alive. Whilst there, he wakes up to find the surviving soldiers have not given up hope but Rocket, Ken and Kyōshirō are not there. The three of them have escaped with their injuries and are remaining hidden from patrolling bears. Many days later, Mel and the rest of the dogs are rescued by Mole and his group. Barely able to walk due to injuries and being cramped in the prison for so long. Shortly after, Mel and the other Ou soldiers are resting in the grass during a storm. Then, he and the others move to another area to not be a burden to their comrades but are found by Monsoon. Kurotora told them to hold their honor as a male but Mel is the only one to respond he sees Kagetora attack Monsoon with everything he's got then sees Monsoon run away. He discovers from Akame that Monsoon ran away because of the arrival of humans. Then, Mel begins to hears the victory howls of their comrades proud of their success they begin to join in too. Gallery See more pictures in Mel (Photo Gallery) Trivia *Mel is most likely named after Yoshihiro Takahashi's pet dog, whose name was also Mercedes. His pet dog was possibly named after the car type. *Mercedes is a feminine name and Yoshihiro's dog was female, too, but the character is male. *Mel, however, is a unisex abbreviation for several masculine and feminine names. *The R and L are not distinct phonemes in Japanese. Thus in katakana, Mer can also be transliterated as Mel. However, in the anime it is clearly pronounced as Mel, and so that's his official name until Yoshihiro confirms the pronunciation. *Mel bears a resemblance to Armin Altert from the manga Attack on Titan both physically and mentally. This is most likely only a coincidence. Category:GDW Characters Category:GDW:O Characters Category:MT Characters Category:Ohu Soldiers Category:Dogs Category:Males Category:Golden Retriever Category:Pet Dogs Category:GTLW Characters Category:English Breeds Category:Former Pet Dogs